The Gluten-Free Food Report

Dr. Celiac, the Food Doc
Reviews Gluten-Free Foods

Gluten Free Chocolate Muffins That Are Delicious

Gluten free double chocolate muffins that are moist and delicious are available from Udi's Gluten Free Foods. I know because I had one today. Udi's makes a gluten free pizza crust that I like both as crust for homemade pizza but as toasted in oven and dipped in olive oil as substitute for gluten containing bread.

The muffins are moist like gluten containing baked goods. They are tasty. I can't tell you that they are healthy per se with one muffin providing 290 calories and 13 grams of fat.

They are gluten free, soy free, dairy free and nut free. They do contain eggs. Their are the usual food additives you see in processed foods.

But if you are hankering for tasty indulgence of an old fashioned muffin and can afford the calories and fat for a treat without blowing a healthy diet to heck then try one. You won't be disappointed. And know I don't own stock or receive any compensation from the company. I am just a Dad who is gluten free and has gluten free kids who also happens to be an expert in Celiac and gluten sensitivity so I have this forum to share my opinions, healthy and unhealthy ones at times.
Be sure to check out the food doc website www.thefooddoc.com.
Healthy Gut, Healthy Life
Sincerely,
The Food Doc
Scot M. Lewey, DO, FACG, FASGE,
Clinical Professor of Medicine
www.thefooddoc.com

Are you looking for gluten free foods that kids will eat? How about gluten free macaroni and cheese that tastes good? Check out Heartland’s Finest Quick Cook Premium All Natural White Cheddar Macaroni & Cheese. If you don’t believe me then how about my kids who devour it on video and give their two thumbs up or “awesome” endorsement on camera without any prompting.

This gluten free product contains navy bean flour, yellow corn flour, cheddar cheese (milk, salt, cheese cultures, enzymes), whey, buttermilk, salt and disodium phosphate. So, if you are sensitive to any of those ingredients, especially dairy, you should avoid it. The company does disclose it produces this product contains soy due to shared equipment but claims it is egg, wheat and gluten free.

A serving produces 14 grams of protein, 6 grams of fiber but 7 grams of fat, 4.5 grams being saturated. So, again we have a gluten free processed food that tastes good but is definitely not low fat.

I am also working on some educational videos and videoblog updates for the The Food Doc Journal and have been adding to and expanding my website www.thefooddoc.com to try to help you achieve a healthy gut, healthy life. Check out the following new web pages:

Gluten Free Dino Chicken Bites - Kids and adults love them!

Trying to maintain a gluten free diet is a challenge enough for adults but for kids it can be even greater. Most kids love chicken nuggets or chicken fingers. Since these are battered with flour they are off limits, that is, unless you can find them made with gluten free flour. Our family found some that taste good, especially when dipped in gluten free Ranch dressing (our favorite Annie’s Cowgirl Ranch Dressing).

Watch a video review from your humble gastroenterologist and his seven year-old son below.

Garrett County Farms, a division of Wellshire Farms foods, makes these gluten free chicken bites from chicken free of antibiotics and preservatives. Wellshire Farms is based in Swedesboro, New Jersey, is family owned and specializes in all natural foods. Now natural and preservative free doesn’t mean low fat but they do compare favorably with other chicken strips in taste. They come in 20-ounce re-sealable pouches and they are Dinosaur shaped!

Gluten-free pancakes that taste better than most flour based pancakes? It’s true. Bob’s Red Mill makes a gluten-free pancake mix that make golden brown fluffy tasty pancakes ready for butter, syrup, powdered sugar or fresh fruit. Trying to be healthy, we had fresh blueberries and cooked apples to top our gluten-free pancakes for breakfast on Saturday morning. Bob’s Red Mill reportedly has dedicated facilities for production of their gluten-free products. That is reassuring given the concerns about cross-contamination with gluten that may exist with some other “gluten-free” products. The pancake mix is easy to mix up. For eight 4 inch pancakes you add 1 ½ cups to one egg, ¾ cup of soy, rice, almond or 2% cow’s milk, and 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Blend together with a mixer or hand whisk vigorously in a bowl before grilling until golden brown.

A serving of two 4” pancakes yields approximately 190 calories, 50 from fat when mixed as described above. There is 2 grams of fiber, 3 grams of sugar and 2 grams of protein (egg, milk). With preparation using egg and 2% milk you get about 5 grams of fat (1.5 saturated), 40 mg of cholesterol and 580 mg of sodium. Lesser amounts of fat and cholesterol can be achieved using 1% or skim milk and egg substitute though I can’t say how well they would grill or taste!

Check out Bob’s Red Mill website for other gluten free products. I have used their Tapioca flour to cook Thanksgiving turkey and we have used many of their bread, cookie and brownie mixes in our home. See my recent posts at The Food Doc Journal about mastocytic enterocolitis and new developments regarding Celiac DQ genetic testing.

I also am working on a newsletter that will contain a lot of detailed content about Celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, food intolerance testing including MRT or mediator release testing, food allergies including eosinophilic or allergic esophagus, Crohn's disease and various forms of colitis including the new entities such as mastocytic inflammatory bowel disease (MIBD).

I spoke to Dr. Robert Nakamura, Medical Director for Prometheus Therapeutics and Diagnostics this morning by phone. I thanked him for the changes Prometheus has made in their celiac genetic tests reports and he informed me that my requests for the more detailed results was instrumental in their changes. We also discussed my observations about the celiac DQ risk genes DQ2 and DQ8 being present in many of the mastocytic enterocolitis patients that I have tested. Stay tuned at The Food Doc Journal for more developments.

Dr. Scot Lewey is a digestive disease specialist doctor (board certified gastroenterologist) whose medical practice focuses on digestive and food related illness. Also, known as Dr. Celiac, the Food Doc, Dr. Lewey shares his experiential knowledge for a healthy gut, healthy life on-line. Start learning today from his extensive personal and professional experience. Dr. Lewey is uniquely qualified as an expert and one of the few GI doctors who is also gluten sensitive and dairy sensitive. He has nearly a quarter of century of experience in the diagnosis and treatment of food allergy & intolerance, colitis, Crohn's disease and IBS. He is married to someone who has Celiac disease. He and his family live gluten free in Colorado.

Doesn’t warm tomato soup and breadsticks or crackers sound good for lunch on a cold winter day? What if you are on a gluten free diet? Today while I was working on an upcoming presentation on the stool testing and the genetics of celiac disease and gluten sensitivity for the Denver chapter of the Celiac Sprue Association, my wife made gluten free tomato soup. We also had bread sticks and crackers that are gluten free. The bread sticks I mentioned in a previous blog.

The soup is an organic soup made by Pacific Natural Foods. It comes in a paper carton ready to be warmed up in the microwave or on the stove. It is gluten free and low in sodium and fat content. However, it does contain milk. Combined with the gluten free bread sticks and crackers and with a few sprinkles of feta cheese on top it tastes great and really hit the spot. My kids loved it too. The published ingredients are organic reduced fat milk, filtered water, organic tomato paste, organic cane sweetener, sodium citrate, sea salt, organic rice flour, organic cheese flavor, organic garlic powder, organic onion powder, and organic white pepper. It is certified organic by ”Oregon Tilth” and carries the label “GLUTEN FREE” though there is no such standard in the U.S. yet.

The soup has 100 calories per 1 cup serving with only 20 calories from fat. It has 1.5 grams of saturated fat and no trans fat. It contains no high fructose corn syrup sweetener. Instead cane sugar is used.

The company is a family owned natural foods company founded in 1987. They make a variety of ready to heat and serve soups and broths. Be careful though because we have found the gluten free soups made by this company are frequently stocked on the self next to soups that are not gluten free but have very similar appearing boxes.

The Glutino brand bread sticks I have previously mentioned. The crackers, Glutano brand Crisp Bread are produced in England. I will comment more on them in another posting.

Thursday February 7, 2008 I will be speaking at the Denver Celiac Sprue Association Support Group on the genetics of Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity. Tuesday February 12, 2008 I will be speaking to the Colorado Springs chapter of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America on diet and probiotics. This past Thursday I spoke at a Spirit of Women series in Colorado Springs sponsored by Memorial Health Systems. It was the largest turn out they have ever had and tickets sold out within three days. Many people came up after the program to ask questions. It is obvious that there is a great need for more information about the role of gluten and leaky gut in celiac disease, IBS, colitis, autism, fibromyalgia and other health problems.

I am currently working on a newly designed newsletter, writing my chapters for a joint book project with Dr.’s Rodney Ford and Ron Hoggan (author of "Dangerous Grains", coeditor of "ScottFree" newsletter), an article for publication on mastocytic enterocolitis and hopefully the re-launch of my website, www.thefooddoc.com that currently redirects to my blog The Food Doc Journal

Hopefully, I will also be able to start enrolling patients in a clinical trial of AT 1001 in cooperation with Alba Therapeutics. This past year I diagnosed seventy new Celiac disease patients and over three hundred non-celiac gluten sensitive individuals. AT 1001 is an experimental agent that decreases leaky gut. AT 1001 is being evaluated for the treatment of Celiac disease, Crohn’s disease and prevention of Type I Diabetes. I was approved as a local investigator but enrollment of patients was delayed by some administrative challenges with the local clinical research company handling the study.

For those interested I do have copies of Ron Hoggan’s DVD “Smarten Up!” available for purchase at a discounted price of $9.95 plus shipping.

Needless to say trying to keep up reading article, writing, posting on my blogs, speaking, conducting clinical research and having a busy office practice while being a parent to kids from ages 4 to 22 is a challenge but I am encouraged by those who have let me know what I am doing is making difference. So, I hope that I may help you achieve a “healthy gut, healthy life”.

A gluten-free chocolate breakfast bar with a cup of coffee is what I had on my way out the door this morning. I was in a rush to head to my office today for our weekly meeting before beginning my day scoping patients and seeing my clinic full of people with celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, Crohn’s disease, mastocytic enterocolitis and food allergies.

Glutino makes a variety of tasty gluten-free products. I especially like their breakfast cereal bars especially the chocolate flavored ones. This gluten-free breakfast bar is made with dried fruits (raisins & dates), chickpea flour, cocoa powder, and cocoa liquor. They do contain ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and sodium bicarbonate along with a gluten-free natural flavoring. The box warns that they may contain sulphites and traces of nut and soy.

Given I start most days at the office by 7 AM a sit down breakfast is rare. Before I went gluten free I used to have a Boost, coffee, orange juice and a breakfast bar. That was before my wife was diagnosed with celiac disease three years ago and I found out I was gluten intolerant and genetically at risk for CD. Now I skip the Boost since I found out I am also casein sensitive. Boost was one of my lactose free sources of dairy protein before I discovered I was casein intolerant. After going gluten-free my lactose intolerance dramatically improved. However, I have found I must avoid casein as much as possible or else I suffer acne like skin eruptions, fatigue, joint aches and stiffness, especially in my hands from my years of performing endoscopy every day. Soy also causing me these symptoms.

At 120 calories a bar, with the Glutino gluten-free breakfast bar you get only 7 calories from fat and no saturated or trans fat. Though they do have 4 grams of fiber, they only provide you 3 grams of protein. They have 26 grams of carbohydrates and 17 grams of sugars. In my opinion they are no less healthy or dry than any gluten containing cereal bars I used to eat and taste just as good. Glutino also makes gluten-free breakfast bars in several other flavors such as apple, blueberry, and cranberry.

If your local grocer or health food store doesn't have these in their gluten-free section you can order them here by going to Amazon.com. You can pick up some books I recommend including or you may be able to find them there. I have had good luck with Glutino brand foods Carol Fenster's Gluten Free Quick and Easy and Libonati's Recognizing Celiac Disease that I highly recommend. We have found the Glutino brand gluten free foods safe for our family and free from any signs of cross contamination.

Try dipping the chocolate flavored breakfast bars in a cup of hot coffee or cocoa for to moisten them up and you will have a gluten-free breakfast treat. You will need to make sure you get some protein though. I sometimes add a hard-boiled egg white with my morning orange juice and banana.

For those who live in the Colorado area I will be speaking several times in Colorado Springs and Denver in the month of January and February. On Thursday, January 24, 2008, I will be one of four speakers at the Spirit of Women, Women and Digestive Health Series. The event is sponsored by Memorial Health System, Colorado Springs and begins at 6 PM. My lecture is titled “Leaky Gut: The Role of Wheat, Dairy, Bacteria, and Yeast Play in Celiac Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome”. On Tuesday, February 12, 2008 I will be speaking to the Colorado Springs Chapter of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America. My presentation will be on the role of nutrition and probiotics in the treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, and on February 2008 I am speaking to the Denver Chapter of the Celiac Sprue Association. My presentation there will be on the diagnosis of Celiac Disease and Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity, including the role of genetic testing and Enterolab stool tests.

Post a comment below to let me know what you think of the gluten-free food report and if this is helpful information. I am hoping to make a difference in your journey to a healthy gut and a healthy life!

Gluten Free Frosted Flake Cereal

Envirokidz’s gluten-free corn flakes “taste great”. They can be purchased at Whole Foods and some grocers carrying gluten free foods. They are also available online in 14 ounce box or 1 oz single serving packs from Amazon.com. Produced by Nature’s Path Foods www.naturepath.com, these frosted corn flakes resemble Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes but are free of gluten. They can be eaten traditional cereal style with milk or milk substitute for those who are dairy allergic or sensitive. Almond or rice milk work well. You can also eat them dry as a tasty gluten-free snack.

They are made from organic corn meal, organic evaporated cane juice and sea salt. Each 2/3 of a cup or 30 gram serving size without milk have 120 calories with 10 grams of fat. The fat content is not saturated and contains no trans fat. Twenty-six grams of carbohydrates and seven grams of sugar constitute the majority of the nutritional value in this cereal that only has two grams of protein. The cereal also has minimal vitamins and no calcium. The manufacturer does disclose that the cereal may contain traces of peanuts, tree nuts or soy, presumably from cross contamination though it is clear. Certified organic implies that the product is made from ingredients that contain no synthetic pesticides, synthetic herbicides, preservatives or additives and has not been exposed to irradiation. EnviroKidz gluten-free brand cereal bars are also tasty. My kids call them “Cheetah bars” because of the Cheetah depicted on the wrapper.

So, if you are looking for that “sugar cereal” taste of Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes but are on a gluten-free diet then try out EnviroKidz Organic Amazon Frosted Flakes. Expensive especially when purchased in individual single serving pouches but provide that feeling of not losing out by being a gluten-free diet.